Itawamba bombs River 14-3 in five to wrap Lady Wildcats'' season

Press Release Archive

CLINTON Pearl River Lady Wildcats wrapped their 2012 softball season with a lopsided 14-3 defeat to Itawamba here Friday in the Region 23 Tournament underway at Traceway Park.The sixth-seeded Lady Indians, who fell to No. 3-ranked and top-seeded Jones County 4-1 in Thursday opening round, bombarded PRCC with 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. The Lady Wildcats fell to second-seeded Northeast Mississippi 3-2 on Thursday to fall into the loser bracket.The River wrapped its season at 21-24 overall, while ICC improved to 34-12.Pearl River lit up the scoreboard in the top of the first when Janessa Dedeaux, a William Carey University signee who prepped at Poplarville High, bashed her first of two home runs on the afternoon with a one-out solo shot before Itawamba unleashed its offensive barrage in the bottom of the frame.PRCC starter Brittany LeBlanc out of North Vermillion High in Lafayette, La., put Anna Holley on via a one-out walk. Holley stole second and tied it up off Jessi Patterson ensuing single. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and Patterson scored to make it 2-1 when Courtney Dawson reached on a fielder choice.Ashley Camp followed with an RBI single to left and Mallory Hill with an RBI sacrifice to right before Jasna Clay singled to right field to reload the corners. That set the stage for Kami Roberts two-run double, while Holley followed with an RBI base hit to left to make it 8-1. Patterson then belted a two-run homer over the left field fence for ICC 10th run before Holly Schlicht grounded out to third to end the inning.After a scoreless second which saw LeBlanc relieved by Neely McCrary of Petal High, the Lady Indians padded their lead in the bottom of the third.Hill led off with a double to the left field fence and scored off Clay up-the-middle single. Roberts then reached on a fielder choice with Clay sliding safely into the second via a PRCC error. Holley and Patterson followed with RBI singles to make it 13-1.Heather Hester of Hancock County High relieved McCrary at that point and immediately retired Schlicht before Lindsey Richardson sacrifice pushed another run home. Lauren Lewis popped out to second to end the inning.Pearl River loaded the bases in the top of the fourth when Alyssa Graeter of Poplarville High led off with a walk, Dickens cracked a bloop single to center, and Christina Hart out of Northshore High in Slidell, La., singled through short an out later. ETrareo Warren of Meridian High hit into a double play to squash the threat.ICC starter Rebecca Sloan was relieved by Danielle Taylor to start the fifth, walking lead off Shannon Brown of Petal High before giving up a two-run homer to Dedeaux an out later to make it 14-3. Hester grounded out to second and Graeter hit a line drive single to center before Dickens grounded out to third to end the game via the eight-run rule.Sloan (10-3) got the win in her four innings on the mound, giving up four hits and walking three; while Taylor gave up two hits and a walk in the fifth.LeBlanc (7-10) got the loss in her one inning of action, giving up six hits and walking three; while McCrary gave up four hits before Hester took over in the third. She gave up a hit and recorded a strikeout.Dedeaux two home runs (three RBIs) paced the Lady Wildcats six-hit effort, while Dickens had two base hits and Graeter and Hart both singled.Patterson led ICC 11-hit attack with a homer and two singles (four RBIs), while Hill had two doubles (one RBI) and Clay (one RBI) and Holley (two RBIs) had two base hits each. Roberts doubled (two RBIs), while Ashley Camp singled (one RBI). Courtney Dawson and Richardson both had RBIs.Pearl River committed three errors in the game to Itawamba zero.